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God loves us and in creating us, he has placed his presence within us, his Spirit within us. And this is our deepest human identity. It is the mystery of being human, that the Spirit of God is alive and moving in our hearts. But we forget that. We forget it because we become too busy, we become angry or greedy or because our ego takes over. We can forget the presence of God within us. And God has given us meditation. He has given this gift to every human being in order for us to remember, to re-connect, to rediscover every day, every moment, this mystery of what it is to be human, to be a temple of the Holy Spirit. This takes us to the universality of meditation.
Meditating as a Christian, Laurence Freeman OSB 2013 C 

Introductory Session

You're Invited! "Introductory Session"

“Christian Meditation: A Pathway to Peace” — The times we live in present challenges to peace on all fronts: in our personal lives, in our communities, and among nations. St. Rose parishioner Greg Ryan, author and Benedictine oblate, will offer an introduction to the ancient tradition and contemporary practice of Christian meditation, November 10 (10-11:30 a.m.). St. Rose parish center, 603 Seventh Ave., Belmar. Light refreshments. Free-will offering to benefit The World Community for Christian Meditation (www.WCCM-USA.org). Information: 732-681-6238 | GJRyan@optonline.net | WCCM-CentralNJ.blogspot.com

The Light of Christ

“The peculiar power of the light of Christ that it reveals to us reality as it is. Light is a form of energy that makes vision possible; the brighter the light the clearer the vision, the deeper the harmony. What we learn is that Christ is our light. The task of Christian meditation is simply to uncover the brilliance of the light of Christ in our own hearts.” From John Main, “The Way fo Enlightenment,” in Fully Alive (London: Canterbury Press, 2013), p.10.

Total Potential

“When we meditate we are still, body and soul, mind and spirit, entirely open to the presence of God, knowing that presence to be pure love, pure gentleness, pure forgiveness. In that presence we become who we are: creatures created by God, redeemed by the love of Jesus, creatures who are temples of the Holy Spirit.” From John Main, “Total Potential,” in Fully Alive (London: Canterbury Press, 2013), p.14. 

"Meditation"

One of the fruits of meditation is the gift of discernment. Discernment about what the media is doing and saying to us, about when to switch off the screen. By creating the space of solitude through daily practice, meditation protects the dignity of individual privacy. As a result, it also develops the social values of personal liberty and responsible participation in society’s decision making. The passivity and fatalism that media-saturation can create is challenged by meditation, if only because people of wisdom are less easily misled. 

We meditate in this world. Our decision to meditate represents a commitment to participate responsibly even in a world going mad. It trains discernment and limits intolerance. It teaches faithfulness to the community of the true Self thus protecting human dignity. Each time we sit down to meditate we carry our own and the world’s baggage into the work of attention. It is a way of loving the world we are part of and contributing to its well-being. Precisely because it is a way of letting go of ourselves, meditation helps us recognize and share the burden of humanity. 

An excerpt from Laurence Freeman OSB, “Meditation,” in JESUS THE TEACHER WITHIN (London: Continuum, 20000), p.. 210.